It’s been five years since Jason Maddy moved to Dallas from Austin, and in that time he’s noticed a shift: Passionate younger chefs are making their mark on the dining scene and “making everybody work a little bit harder.” There’s no question that Maddy, 37, executive chef at Oak, the critically acclaimed Design District restaurant, is a part of that new wave of talent.

A veteran of David Bouley’s erstwhile Danube restaurant in New York, Maddy also worked with David Bull at the Driskill Hotel in Austin and with both John Tesar and Bruno Davaillon at the Mansion Restaurant. In his first executive chef position, he helped Oak earn a four-star review in The Dallas Morning News last February, just two months after the restaurant opened. He also landed a spot on restaurant critic Leslie Brenner’s Best in DFW: Chefs list for 2012.

On a recent Friday afternoon, Maddy discussed his affinity for Austrian flavors, unusual cuts of meat and the perks of being married to another chef.

How was the Austin dining scene different from Dallas’?

The people in Austin know what they’re doing, but it’s such a casual city. Here, I think people are more educated about food. I think they’ve traveled more, so dining in Dallas has to be much more sophisticated.

Have you noticed any changes in Dallas after five years?

Oh, yeah, dramatic changes. The younger chefs that are up and coming — I mean Matt McCallister, Omar Flores, people like that — they’re opening up their own places, and that’s opening up the whole dining scene. It’s a beautiful thing to see.

Do you eat out much in Dallas?

We’re always going to new places. Just went to Driftwood — loved it. Just got over to Spoon. I worked with Tesar over at the Mansion, so I was excited to see his food again. There’s a place called Joyce and Gigi’s Kitchen we were just at the other night. The chef is a friend of my wife’s. They’re Bolivian, and they incorporated all that area that they’re from — Bolivian, Peruvian and Argentinian. It was so unique.

When did you start developing your own aesthetic and how would you describe it?

Once I was out of culinary school, I worked for David Bouley at Danube and that was very Austrian style. I was just taking in everything I could. And when I started working with David Bull, I realized I had a lot of different cultures behind me. I’m classically French trained, but I realized I didn’t want to be an Italian chef or a French chef. I like the broad spectrum — which I guess you can call American at this point. It’s using all the techniques and styles — everything you have — and trying to relate the ingredients to my diners.

Are there dishes on the menu right now that you’re especially excited about?

The goat neck that we’re getting from Windy Hill Farms has been really fun. It takes a long time because the neck has to break down. So we do a braise with red wine, mirepoix, cook it overnight. We put it with handmade potato gnocchi, a gremolata, and we use the sauce from the braise, and kale.

Goat necks — were people squeamish?

I thought they would be, but people just went for it. Before that, I was doing lamb sweetbreads, and I guess it was sweetbreads that scared them.

Do you think it’s important for chefs to travel?

If there is a food scene out there and you’re trying to re-create that food back here, you need to travel. … Having the knowledge of where things are coming from and how other cultures treat their food, that’s very important for us all.

With Bouley, I got to go to Japan for 10 days and eat really good sushi. I was really impressed by the Tsukiji fish market, how much variety they had and how little of it I knew. You pick something up, and you have no idea what it is and how to cook it or what it’s for. It was very eye-opening for me. I also went to Austria with Bruno Davaillon, which was great because Austrian food is one of my bigger interests. You’ll see a lot of that reflected on the menu here.

What is it about Austrian cuisine that turns you on?

They’re such well-rounded chefs. You think a French chef is the epitome of “I know how to do everything,” but the Austrians are very, very versatile. They can do the baking, they can do the pastry — they know it all.

How have you tried to translate that to your menu here?

We do the schnitzel the proper way I think you would find in Austria. Most people get it, some people don’t. They’re used to a Milanese, while here it’s a perfect soufflé and a nice thin cut. And we’ve brought in a lot of the Hungarian spices. We’ve tried to get some of the Austrian wines to pair with some of the dishes. It’s still a very small part of the menu.

Do you ever cook when you’re not here in Oak’s kitchen?

My wife, Emily, is really the home cook. She was the chef de cuisine for David Bull when they opened Bolla at the Stoneleigh Hotel. Then she was the butcher when we opened here. She eats really healthy, so we do a lot of vegetables and soups. Just the other day she was making ramen with three different styles of meats and the noodles. It’s really nice to be able to go home to a meal like that.

What’s it like being married to another chef?

It’s actually a great thing because I’ll come home and if I’ve cooked or she’s cooked, it’s fine, we’ll eat. But then we’ll get to talk about food. I’m always thinking about my food at the restaurant, and she’s thinking about what she’s doing. We have all these cookbooks sitting around. If I’m trying to come up with a dish, we’ll just rattle it off to each other and I’ll take notes. She tells me if she doesn’t think a dish is going to work. It’s a good thing.

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